Fate:Gaim
by jboggs64
Summary: In a world parallel to the normal realm of Gaim, Helheim has overrun Zawame City. This causes a divergence in the timeline, creating a new Lostbelt for the crew of Chaldea to deal with. With Kazuraba Kouta nowhere to be found, can Ritsuka and his assortment of servants deal with this new threat?
1. A New Lostbelt

WARNING: This story contains spoilers for F/GO Part 2: Cosmos in the Lostbelt. If you are an NA player that cares about the story at all you may want to avoid this.

"Master, how was your lunch?"

Mash sat down beside Ritsuka Fujimaru, the master of Chaldea, as he just finished his meal. In the months since they had finished their fight against the Crypters in Atlantis and Olympus, he had finally gotten some time down to relax and have a decent meal while waiting for the next Lostbelt to pop up. All of the Shadow Border was on high alert - after all, it had been way too long without encountering the Lostbelt of Beryl Gut. However, they decided to take full advantage of their much needed time to rest. It was a good chance for Ritsuka and Mash to let their bodies recover for the next fight. Saving the world was no easy task, even for those who had done it before like the crew of Chaldea has.

Of course though, every story has to start somewhere. And this one picks up here.

"It was good…" Ritsuka replied, distantly. He was staring at the wall across from him, as though something was supposed to be there. Mash, slightly confused, waved her hand in front of Ritsuka's face.

"Senpai? Are you alright?"

"Do you not see her?" Ritsuka pointed towards the wall. "The woman with the white hair… she almost looks like a Goddess."

Almost as if on cue, the entire Shadow Border began to shake, snapping Ritsuka back into reality.

"Huh…?" Ritsuka looked around. "What just happened?"

_Ritsuka! Mash! Report to the command room at once!_

Da Vinci's voice rang over the intercom, ordering the two to report ASAP. Of course, they obliged, bolting down the hallway towards the command room.

"What's going on, Da Vinci?" Ritsuka grabbed his Mystic Code from the rack, mentally preparing himself for their next encounter.

"As you probably expected, it's another Lostbelt… but not like one we've encountered before. This Lostbelt isn't under the control of Beryl Gut, meaning this isn't one of the original 7."

Da Vinci tapped through a few menus on her tablet, pulling up an image of the Lostbelt they were traveling towards.

"This looks almost modern!" Mash exclaimed, pointing towards some of the buildings in the image.

"Not just that, it looks like Japan… But it looks overrun" Ritsuka grimaced. "What are we getting ourselves into, Da Vinci?"

"This… is Zawame City, a city in Japan that well, never existed in the proper timeline." Da Vinci brought up another series of images. "This Lostbelt diverged when these beings, the Inves, came into existence, or at least came to Earth. It appears as though some humans rose up to fight them with… certain technology that even I can't decipher."

"Wow… technology that even the great Leonardo Da Vinci can't decipher!" Mash seemed to get excited. "I can't imagine what kind of genius could have come up with that."

Da Vinci smirked. "Well, it isn't everyday we come across technology like this. This absolutely must be the first thing we investigate, before attempting to contact the Crypter of the Lostbelt."

"Oh yeah!" Ritsuka came up with an idea. "Who is the Crypter of this Lostbelt anyways? We know it isn't one of the 7 from Chaldea, right?"

"Even I can't get the data on that... Well, for now let's get you guys going. We want to resolve this as quickly as possible so we can get back on track to see Beryl's Lostbelt." Da Vinci pulled up one more set of images from her tablet to show the pair. "This is going to be your roster for this Lostbelt. I handpicked these specifically because of their Japanese background. It may help in this scenario."

The roster this time around consisted of Okita Souji, Miyamoto Musashi, and finally Tomoe Gozen.

"Why wouldn't you also throw Nobunaga in there?" Ritsuka questioned. "I figure if we are going for Japanese servants, someone with prowess like herself would likely prove very useful in a scenario like this."

"Ah yes, I did try, but whenever I tried linking her Spirit Origin in this era, it wouldn't register. This could spell trouble for what is going on, so if you see some variant of Nobunaga, don't be surprised."

"How fun…"

With that, Mash and Ritsuka took off from the Shadow Border. Once outside, Ritsuka used the Spirit Origins from the briefcase to summon forth the trio of servants for the Lostbelt.

"Alright guys, this is somewhat familiar territory for almost all of us. Let's get going and hopefully find one of these guys with this… interesting technology."

_ZZZIiiiiippppp_

All five of them turned to see where the source of the sound came from, only to find a zipper of sorts leading to another dimension having opened before them.

"What the-" Musashi exclaimed, quickly drawing her swords as one of the Inves creatures crawled out from the dimensional rift.

"Alright guys, first battle of this new Lostbelt! Whatever you do, don't underestimate these guys!" Ritsuka steeled himself for the coming battle, grabbing the hand with Command Seals on it with his spare hand and flowing mana into that hand to protect himself if necessary. Next to him, Mash donned her Orteanus armor, summoning her shield to protect Ritsuka.

The Inves roared, charging at the group. Musashi quickly sidestepped out of it's way, bringing her swords through the creature as she did. And just as quickly as it had appeared, it fell.

"Well… that was surprisingly easy." Musashi sheathed her swords, returning to her Master. "I… I don't know if these guys are so much of a threat to us Master."

Musashi giggled as Ritsuka stood there, dumbfounded. "Uh… yeah, I guess so."

Ritsuka lowered his guard momentarily, however not for long as around him it appeared as though 100 of those same zippers opened up simultaneously.

"Are you serious?!" Okita finally opened her mouth. "None of us have AoE Noble Phantasms… even if these are small fry, this'll take ages!"

"Calm down Okita-senpai," Tomoe put her hand on Okita's shoulder, reassuring her. "Even Master can protect himself from these guys. Let's take our time with this."

Smiling, Tomoe drew her blade and dashed into the mad rush of Inves.

"Oh fine." Okita said, pouting. Drawing her sword as well, she walked towards the group of Inves. "Be careful Master!"

"Oh you'll have to be a bit more cautious than that, won't you?"

Out of nowhere, a blast of green energy came through the crowd on Inves, tearing straight through Okita's shoulder. Crying out, the swordsman dropped to the ground. Ritsuka dashed over, Mash protecting him from the Inves.

"Okita!"

Reaching the wounded warrior, Ritsuka grabbed her and pulled back as Musashi and Tomoe joined Mash to protect him from the unknown threat.

"You should know that tricks are my specialty… Now then, why don't you tell me why such strong warriors are out here without any armor?"

The Inves creature that shot Okita appeared from the crowd. It appeared to be a green, advanced version of the Inves with a halberd as it's armament.

"What the hell are you?" Ritsuka stood in front of the wounded Okita to protect her.

"My name is Redyue, one of the Overlord Inves. This here is my territory, so you would be wise to head to one of the territories not controlled by the Overlords."

"As if!" Musashi snapped back confidently. "I guess you wouldn't know but solving these situations is sort of our job!"

"Then you shall perish by my hand."

Redyue's eyes glowed, summoning forth more of the forestation that was overrunning the city.

"Well I guess that solves one of our questions." Ritsuka said. "These creatures are definitely the issue in this Lostbelt. Musashi, take down this monster!"

"With pleasure!" Musashi's eyes lit up with excitement, being free to go as wild as she wanted to.

She and Redyue charged at each other, with Musashi using her dual swords to catch Redyue's halberd and jump over him, pulling it away from him.

"Tch…" Redyue, without his halberd, caught one of Musashi's swords in his hand, and blocked the other from slashing sideways at him with his arm. "How weak."

Redyue unleashed a soundwave towards his opponent, causing Musashi to drop to her knees and covering her ears. Both of her swords fell to the ground, and Redyue took advantage of this, grabbing her by the neck and raising her up high.

"Musashi!"

Tomoe jumped into battle, slashing Redyue's arm, causing him to drop Musashi. Okita sprinted under him, collecting the injured Musashi and bringing her back to safety.

"Now it's my turn, freak." Tomoe readied her bow. "Master! Give me permission to use my Noble Phantasm!"

"Rrrghh… no! Retreat for now!" Ritsuka grit his teeth as he took Musashi from Okita, allowing Okita to guard the rear.

"But why?!"

"I don't want to be wasting that much mana here!" Ritsuka commanded. "This guy… he's strong, but I have a sneaking suspicion he isn't even close to the strongest here."

"Well, you'd be right about that. However, that doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me without this… Noble Phantasm of yours."

A shadow fell over Redyue, appearing to take the shape of a person standing behind him.

"Eh?" Redyue turned around, right into a sword that quickly stabbed through the Overlord.

"You may want to think a bit more before getting so overconfident in your abilities, Redyue."

The group of Chaldeans stood in awe as the person withdrew his blade from the Overlord. The man stood before them silently as Redyue turned to dust and withered away.

He wore black suit and striped tie, and exuded a confidence that almost intimidated Ritsuka.

"And you would be…?" Tomoe questioned, walking up to the man.

"I don't think that outsiders should be the ones asking that question… it would be in your best interest to leave now, while you still can. You wouldn't want the King to find out your whereabouts after all."

Ritsuka thought quickly, before signaling to his comrades to retreat.

"Thank you… Could you at least tell us your name? So we know who to thank for this."

"Just call me Ryugen."

The group turned and ran back towards the Shadow Border to treat their injuries, while the man continued to stand by the remains of the Overlord.

"Kouta… I know you're out there somewhere. Why not just come out already? I bet you're just itching to come out and save these people and yet you won't! I'm going to be the one to take you down… just you wait.

Nobu… I know you must have been raring to go back there. Thank you for restraining yourself."

Appearing from spirit form, the red-haired Avenger Nobunaga appeared beside the man.

"Hmph. As long as you let me at her at some point, I'll manage. Just keep in mind that she is my rival… I won't wait too long."

Mitsuzane Kureshima, the mysterious Ryugen, picked up Redyue's halberd as he pulled out the Yomostuheguri Lockseed, staring confidently at the two as he walked off, resuming his search for the new Man of the Beginning.

**A/N: **So... I'm back? I honestly don't know if I'll continue with this or not, but I decided to write this little thing out because I felt a little bored and inspiration struck. I've essentially discontinued my other series, so if I do come back in a more permanent manner, this'll be the story I focus on(however based on certain stats I may consider bringing back Ex-Aid Online as well). Thanks for reading all the way to the end! Hopefully yall enjoyed this new story I came up with. Sorry if it was a bit spoiler heavy for FGO NA players.


	2. The Resistance

"Ahh that was rough…" the Archer Inferno sauntered back into the command room last, having been bringing up the rear while the group retreated to the Shadow Border. "Are the others alright, Master?"

Ritsuka sat cross armed, staring into the void once again. It was only when Tomoe clapped her hands in front of her face that he snapped back into reality.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Musashi and Okita are both recovering in the infirmary…" Ritsuka sat back in his seat.

Mash walked in with a cup of coffee for Ritsuka, who gladly accepted it, and began taking a sip from it.

"Senpai…" Mash sat down beside Ritsuka. "Musashi and Okita are both recovering quickly, and should be back up-"

A sudden sound coming from outside set all three on high alert. Them and Da Vinci were the only ones that would be moving in and out of the command room, and Da Vinci was holed up in her lab at the moment. No one should have been at the door to the command room, and yet there was.

Mash summoned her shield while Tomoe readied her blade, preparing to intercept the intruders.

"Now now, that's no way to treat guests, is it?"

A flamboyant man strolled into the command room, appearing unarmed, with a slightly meeker man walking strictly behind him.

"Who are you two?" Ritsuka asked them.

"My name is… Oren Pierre Alfonzo! And this is my assistant pattisier, Jonouchi Hideyasu."

"O...k?" Tomoe lowered her sword out of confusion. "So how did you get in here and what do you want?"

Oren stood there, dumbfounded at the audacity of the group.

"Well if you insist… we just walked in through the front door. It wasn't exactly hard. You people didn't even bother to lock it!"

Ritsuka turned his head at Tomoe, who was supposed to lock up once everyone had entered.

"Weellll… You see…" Tomoe quickly dropped her guard, embarrassed at her major screw-up.

"As for what we want… well I'll be honest. We tailed you back here after we saw you guys coming back from the area where that hideous Overlord was." Oren explained. "If you guys had the guts to stand up to the Overlords, even if you wound up losing… well needless to say we admire that."

"We?"

"Yes, we. The resistance." Oren signaled to Jonouchi, who pulled out a business card to give to the group of Chaldeans.

"The resistance was formed to stand up to the Overlords… but well we haven't exactly had much luck." Jonouchi had a sadness in his eyes that Ritsuka almost immediately recognized.

"I see…" Ritsuka walked over to the duo to speak more personally with them. "Well, I'll tell you that these Overlords appear to be one of the reasons we were sent here, so it looks like we are on the same side at the very least."

"Yeah, it does appear that way." Oren said. "Say, why don't you come visit the resistance base? You can meet the rest of us and we can include you in our plans to take down these monsters."

"Listen, until Musashi and Okita fully recover, I don't think it's smart for us to go anywhere-"

"Oh you won't have to worry about those Overlords, we have some tunnels that I don't even think they have found yet. We can get you to our base without any major fights- although there's no guarantee there won't be some small Elementary Inves to tackle along the way. But we can take care of those for you."

"Oh well in that case…" Ritsuka had to consider for a moment, but before he could answer Jonouchi spoke up.

"Hold on - did you just say Musashi? As in Miyamoto Musashi?"

"Uh… well, yes. But… not in the way that you'd think."

As he said that, Musashi and Okita both walked back in, wrapped up in bandages, with a fire in both of their eyes.

"Master! Let's go back out and take down that Overlord!" Musashi grabbed Ritsuka and shook him as she told him this, rattling him.

"Musashi! Calm down" Mash pried the swordsman off of Ritsuka. "That man killed the Overlord, remember?"

"Can you all stop for a minute?!" Jonouchi piped up once again, stunning the servants. "I have… various questions about this whole situation. First off, are you really Miyamoto Musashi? As in the famous swordsman who used the Niten Ichi-ryu style? The one who lived hundreds of years ago and should be long dead by now?! Not to mention a man?!"

"Ah… well," Ritsuka sat down in one of the chairs behind him, "I guess it is about time we explain who exactly we all are, now isn't it? Mash?"

"Ah, yes senpai! We are from an organization known as Chaldea. Formerly based out of a remote location outside of the command of any country, we worked to repair the singularities caused by the Demon Goetia. After that… well I'll just say our base is no longer operational. We've been going around to what we have found out are called Lostbelts, fragments of human history that have diverted from the normal human history. This place… your world, is one of these Lostbelts. However, what is quite interesting about this place is that, although being a Lostbelt, it is not one controlled by one of the crypters that we knew. The 7 former masters of Chaldea… and now there is an 8th under the rule of the Alien God that we are fighting against."

"Ok then. And this… Alien God, you said? Is what is creating these Lostbelts?" Jonouchi pressed Mash for more information about their situation.

"Well… creating isn't the right term. I guess it could be described as the Alien God bringing them back into existence?"

Jonouchi and Oren stood silently for a minute, trying to comprehend what Mash had just told them.

"So what you're saying is that this timeline isn't the 'proper' timeline for humanity?" Oren asked. "I suppose that's sort of a relief to know but I guess that also means all of our lives could be considered void."

"It's not an easy situation to grasp, I'm sure..." Ritsuka continued, "But you must believe us when we say this. Would you happen to know anything about a massive, ethereal looking tree somewhere around here?"

"Yes, actually!" Oren exclaimed. "The Yggdrasil tower back in the day, but recently it sort of… exploded? Well, something grew out from within it that's super big and kind of scary. Like it's sucking the life out of the surrounding area."

"That… sounds about right."

"Ok, so that answers one of our questions. But how the hell do you have Miyamoto freaking Musashi alive and here?! And as a woman?!" Jonouchi seemed to be getting quite frustrated.

"Ahahaha" Tomoe chuckled a bit. "Yes, what you all wouldn't know about true history."

"True history?"

"Yes…" Ritsuka facepalmed at his comrades jesting. "All three of these people here in the… not so modern clothes are, as you'd expect, not modern. They are heroic spirits - heroes from the past, both real and supposedly fictional, who ascended into the throne of heroes after they died. We summoned them forth from there to help us with our endeavor. These three are the Niten Ichi-ryu style user Miyamoto Musashi, the Archer Inferno Tomoe Gozen, and the Sakura Saber, also known as Okita Souji."

Jonouchi stared at the three servants with almost a deadpan expression, speechless to find himself in the presence of such legendary figures. Oren on the other hand, was all over them.

"Oh my! Such marvelous people in front of us! It all sounds… slightly far-fetched, but well, we also are in a world of monsters like the Inves."

Oren chuckled at the situation before continuing.

"Well, with that out of the way, what say we go to our hideout? I'd like for you people to meet our friends."

With that, Oren turned towards the door. As the door slid open however, the short figure of Leonardo Da Vinci stumbled right into the patissier and fell backwards, dropping her staff.

"Oh are you alright, little kid?" Oren said as he helped Da Vinci up.

"Little kid? Ah, I guess no one would be able to recognize me like this!"

"Hm? What do you mean by that?"

"Haahh…" Ritsuka let out a sigh, "That's another one of the heroic spirits summoned to help Chaldea. Leonardo Da Vinci"

Once again, Jonouchi was flabbergasted at this reveal, but this time Oren joined him. Both stood, mouths agape as Da Vinci brushed herself off.

"What, you've never seen a pretty young gal before?" the genius asked.

"Ritsuka…" Jonouchi turned and placed a hand on Ritsuka's shoulder, "It's one thing to tell me that you have the real Miyamoto Musashi with you… and I suppose it's fine that Musashi may have been a girl… but if you really expect me to believe that Leonardo Da Vinci, the greatest genius of all time was not only a woman, but also a small child, you've got another thing coming!"

Ritsuka could only sigh as he directed the two members of the Resistance back out of the Shadow Border. He had agreed to go with them, but he had a nagging feeling in the back of his head, so he took Da Vinci with him to go to the Resistance's base. After all, having a genius with him couldn't bring the group any trouble, right?

After the two Resistance members easily took out a few waves of the Elementary Inves, they finally reached the base and were able to relax. Oren showed them inside while Jonouchi stood guard to make sure they weren't being watched, as well as to lock up after they all went inside. There were several other people within the base doing various household tasks, while others were sitting around, reading books, dancing, or playing video games.

"This… this is it?" Tomoe stood, holding back tears. "This is all that's left of humanity in this realm?"

"Well, if you could even call us humanity anymore." Jonouchi turned to the Resistance members. "Oy! We've got some guests here. They are here to help us out! Treat them with the same respect you'd treat each other."

The Resistance members scrambled to their feet, coming over to greet the Chaldeans.

"Wooaaahhh, those clothes are cool! Where did you get them?"

"Are those real swords?"

"What's with that tattoo?"

As the day went on, the two groups got acquainted with each other, quickly becoming friends. However, there were a couple of members that sat silently still, in the corner of the room discussing with each other. They were all dressed in business suits and had serious looks on their faces, all of them looking over a map of the city.

"Don't worry too much about them, they are always over there discussing strategies about how to strike back at the Overlords."

Ritsuka couldn't comply however, wandering over to see how he could help.

"What do you want, kid?"

Ritsuka stepped backwards, frightened that one of them had noticed him walking up without the man having even looked at him. He took a deep breath, like he did when he had faced Gorgon back in Babylonia, and marched forward to greet the group.

"What are you guys doing over here?" he calmly asked the group.

"Same as always," another piped up, "Planning how we can survive another day."

"How bleak!" Da Vinci popped up from behind Ritsuka. "Do you never have _any_ fun?"

"Tch… what would a kid like you know anyways-"

The woman speaking quickly shut up as Da Vinci fired a bolt from her staff right past her, slightly skimming her ear.

"Just a small hint…" Ritsuka placed his hand on the shoulder of one of the woman's accomplices, "You don't want to get on Da Vinci's bad side."

As the group slowly attempted to recover from the stun they received, a siren blared.

**WARNING: AN OVERLORD HAS BEEN SPOTTED NEAR THE PREMISES**

"Shit…" Zack, one of the Resistance members that had been talking with Musashi stood up, taking out a belt and placing it around his waist. "Alright guys, let's go! We aren't giving this base up yet!"

A few others ran outside with Zack, each placing a belt around their waists as well. Ritsuka and the group of Chaldeans quickly picked up on the situation and ran outside behind them. Once they got outside, they encountered their enemy. A red Overlord Inves who held a sword, and had several horns growing out from various portions of his body, notably his shoulders and wrists. Once the group of Resistance members came into view, he turned towards them, screaming in rage and charged towards them.

"Alright everyone!" Zack took out an object from his pocket, twirling it before raising it up to the air. The others followed suit, taking the strange trinkets out from their pockets before each doing their own signature poses.

**KURUMI**

**DURIAN  
DONGURI**

**MELON ENERGY**

**LEMON ENERGY**

They all placed the trinkets on their belts, shouting out together.

"Henshin!"

A/N - This... took a while. This is sort of a side project though, so I guess don't expect chapters much more often than this?


	3. Ryugen

**A/N: **Italics represent Ritsuka's thoughts

"Zack, Ryoma, you're with me!" Taketora took immediate initiative after the quintet transformed, splitting up the group to take down the threat. "Jonouchi, Oren, start to work through the Elementary Inves and join up with us once you're done."

As the other four Armored Riders charged at their targets, Taketora turned to the Chaldeans standing behind them, pointing his sword directly at Ritsuka. A chill ran down his spine, sensing the murderous intent in Taketora even through his mask.

"Chaldeans… let's see if you can really back up your words. Help Oren and Jonouchi take down these Elementary Inves, so we can get a good idea as to your abilities in this fight. Even as people not from this world, I don't want to throw people who can't defend themselves into a fight for their lives."

Ritsuka had obviously been in situations plenty similar to this before. He had faced countless demon pillars, multiple divine beings, even multiple Beasts- and yet he couldn't shake this feeling of dread. Even though he couldn't see the eyes behind the mask, he could tell. Taketora had lost friends, even family, to this war. And it was clear that he didn't want to lose anyone else.

Ritsuka fully understood it. Completely. 7 Singularities, 4 Remnants, and 5 Lostbelts… loss was the one thing consistent through all of them. Servants and civilians alike, war doesn't discriminate in it's victims - Ritsuka had even almost lost Mash, his most loyal companion. So, he understood. He understood Taketora's hesitance to send them into battle. However, as he had the same understanding, he could not back down. Not when there were lives that he could save. He walked up to Taketora, patting him on the back as he and his servants marched forth into battle.

"Don't worry. We can take care of ourselves."

Mash, Okita, Musashi, and Tomoe all went forth into battle, zipping around faster than the Inves could keep up. Using naught but their own techniques, they began to tear away at the opposing forces. Ritsuka joined them, however was only about as effective as the Armored Riders at taking down the Inves creatures. For every one that he took down though, his servants took down 5 each. Their swords had each been refined over their lifetimes to be able to cut down whatever came across their path (or in Mash's case, her shield).

"Master! On your left!" Okita leapt towards Ritsuka, slicing at the Inves that had been creeping up on him.

"Thanks Okita! It looks like there aren't many left at this point, let's go over and see how we can help the other group that's taking on the Overlord."

Okita nodded, sheathing her sword as they ran over together. They came across the trio of Armored Riders struggling against the clearly more powerful Overlord Inves, each getting thrown back easily at a mere swing of the Overlord's sword. Okita quickly intervened, stepping in front of the Overlord as it charged at Ryoma. Taken aback by the sudden intrusion, the Overlord swung it's sword downwards at Okita, who quickly evaded, sidestepping the slash as she knelt down, preparing to slash through her enemy.

"Be careful, it's armor is tougher than it looks!" Taketora called out to the Sakura Saber as she leapt forward, slashing through the Overlord. Or so it seemed to her at least. She could tell immediately that the fight wasn't over, turning back around to see the Overlord completely unaffected by her attack.

Musashi and Tomoe quickly joined up with Ritsuka, as Oren and Jonouchi ran to help Ryoma and Zack up. Mash jumped in front of Okita, protecting her from the Overlord. However, the raw strength of the Overlord was fierce, pushing even Mash backwards. Ritsuka raced in, placing a hand on her back to strengthen her.

"Master! Mash!" Tomoe unloaded a hail of arrows on the Overlord, distracting it long enough for Mash and Ritsuka to get out from the Overlord's assault.

The group circled up around the Overlord, trapping it inside. Ritsuka, being the one with the least combat experience, stood behind Mash.

_We're outclassed here, even with everyone that we have… come on Ritsuka, think! There has to be a way to take this freak down!_

"Ritsuka! There is one way that you can take this down! One that only you can do right now." Ryoma called out from across the circle to the master of Chaldea. "It took me a bit of observing you but I think I've figured you out. You're incredibly strong for a normal human, even more than any of us Armored Riders when we aren't transformed."

Taketora's eyes widened beneath his helmet.

"You can't seriously be considering that! Ryoma, there's only one available right now, you can't really be considering giving it to him!"

"What other choice do we have! If we don't, none of us are making it out of here!" Ryoma spat back.

He lowered his weapon for a moment to grab something, however the Overlord noticed, charging at him. From across the circle Mash couldn't get to him in time to protect him, forcing the two next to him, Zack and Oren to rush in, taking the brunt of the Overlord's attacks.

The other Armored Riders rushed in from behind, hacking away at the Overlord's thick skin. With no progress being made though, Ryoma finally found what he was looking for.

"Ritsuka, catch!"

Ryoma threw the device through the air, soaring over the Overlord's head and into Ritsuka's hands. It was the same belt that most of the Armored Riders were wearing - one that had no faceplate on it like the others did.

"Ritsuka, wait!" Taketora called out to Ritsuka while still attacking the Overlord. "That belt… once you transform, there's no coming back. You won't be entirely human anymore! Please consider what you'd be doing before you do anything rash!"

These words stopped Ritsuka in his tracks.

_Not… human?_

Ritsuka looked at the driver in his hands, shaking with a fear that he hadn't felt since facing off against Goetia. Saving humanity was one thing, but giving up his own? He had always lived his life selflessly, always looking for opportunities to help others, no matter the cost to himself. But could he really handle going as far as to lose his humanity just so he could fight on the same level as his Servants?

"Senpai… Senpai!" Mash shook Ritsuka, attempting to snap him out of his daze, but with little success.

The Overlord broke through the barricade of Riders, throwing them all backwards as Mash stood in front of her Master to protect him. It wound up being unnecessary though, as once again someone jumped down in front of Mash, slashing through the Overlord. The mysterious man that had previously identified as Ryugen charged up an attack with a new weapon that looked like a gun decorated in purple and gold, blasting the Overlord and destroying it right away.

"Huh?! Ryugen?" Ritsuka said, finally snapping out of his daze, not having to make the decision now. "You… you saved us again. Thank-"

"MASH! RITSUKA! GET DOWN NOW!"

Taketora drew his sword as soon as he got up, leaping towards the mysterious Ryugen.

"Hmph. How annoying."

Ryugen turned his gun towards the melon themed Armored Rider, blasting him several meters back and forcing him out of his transformation.

"What the- Taketora!" Ritsuka exclaimed, rushing over to help his comrade.

"You know… I was really hoping to keep my cover for a bit longer. But even I am not omniscient. It really did hamper my plans to find you here, oh dear brother."

Ritsuka turned back towards Ryugen, glaring daggers at him. He could feel it… his presence was different from their last encounter. It was more dangerous, almost as if he had been concealing this from them before.

"Mash! Step away from him…" Ritsuka helped a somehow still conscious Taketora back to his feet, steadying him with his own body. "I don't know how I didn't notice this the first time… you have something to do with this Lostbelt. Could you possibly be…?"

"Hehe… hehehehahahahahha!" Ryugen broke out into uncontrollable laughter, his plot finally being revealed. "It took you long enough. And I was going to have so much fun with you before we got to this reveal! Yes, it is as you suspect, I am this Lostbelt's Crypter! Mitsuzane Kureshima, Armored Rider Ryugen!"

The Crypters - a group of 7 mages originally meant to be the ones saving the world from incineration. The ones that Ritsuka essentially replaced when Chaldea was bombed by the Demon God Pillar disguised as Lev Lainur. Throughout the previous 5 Lostbelts, Ritsuka had come across most of them, and gotten a fairly good understanding of all of them. None of them were strictly evil - even their leader, Wodime. Even Kadoc, someone who had been pretty much abandoned by the world, didn't fall completely to darkness.

But it was clear to Ritsuka now, standing right in front of the 8th Crypter, the one that shouldn't be. The look in his eyes told Ritsuka all that he needed to know. This man was pure evil, a very stark contrast to Taketora, who Ritsuka assumed was Mitsuzane's brother.

"You…" Taketora shook off Ritsuka, bringing forth his weapon once more, even though he wasn't transformed. "What did you do to Kouta?!"

Mitsuzane glanced upwards, pondering on his brother's question. "You think that I was the one to take him down? Me, with what little power I actually have?!"

Taketora took a step back, shaken by this response. Ritsuka could tell that Taketora genuinely thought Mitsuzane had something to do with his friend's disappearance.

"If it wasn't you, then who could have taken him out?!" Taketora shook his weapon at Mitsuzane, with a crazed look in his eyes. "No one else left is strong enough to take him down, not with the kind of power he had!"

"If I'm being completely honest with you, I can't even tell you if he's gone." Mitsuzane went quiet for a bit before continuing. "Kouta wasn't the type of guy to abandon his friends, and even as the Man of the Beginning I don't think that would have changed."

"Taketora…" Ritsuka tried to pull him back, but it was clear he had snapped. "I don't know what he's done to you and your friends, but you're not strong enough to take him on. None of you are."

Mitsuzane took out a lockseed with a dark red color scheme, a Driver similar to the ones the Armored Riders were wearing appearing on his waist.

"You should really listen to your friend, dear brother. I wouldn't want to have to take you down too, just like all your other friends." Mitsuzane's eyes lit back up with the evil intent Ritsuka had seen before.

**YOMOSTUHEGURI**

"Hen… shin!"

**HAI! YOMOTSUHEGURI ARMS! MEI! KAI! YOMI! YOMI! YOMI!**

Mitsuzane donned an armor just like the other Armored Riders, with a mix of dark red and green spread throughout. Ritsuka could feel the dark aura being emitted, a sea of darkness that washed over all of them when his transformation finished. The Crypters he had come across were strong, but with the exception of Wodime and Hinako were not strong on their own.

_They had to rely on servants… wait, if Mitsuzane is the Crypter of the Lostbelt, wouldn't he have a servant?!_

"Ah… just as an extra measure, why don't you come out and introduce yourself, my loyal servant!"

Next to the Crypter, an all too familiar servant materialized.

"Oda Nobunaga, going forth…"

The Avenger with crimson hair drew her sword, going back to back with her master to protect him.

Across from the new entry into the fight, Okita Souji's eyes flared, burning with a passion that Ritsuka hadn't seen since their time in the GudaGuda singularities.

"Okita! Don't rush in by yourself… this is Avenger Nobunaga! You can't take her on alone!"

Mitsuzane, having summoned forth his weapon - that of the Overlord Redyue that the Chaldeans had previously encountered - chuckled while assuming a battle stance.

"Together, I don't think even the Lostbelt King himself could take us down! What makes you think that you lot, who weren't even strong enough to take on an unintelligent Overlord could take down the most powerful pair in this world?!"

Strengthening his resolve, Ritsuka walked forward. With his time traveling came his fair share of betrayal. It wasn't as though he was used to it though. This one just happened to hurt a bit less than usual, although Ritsuka thought that may be because of how briefly he had met Mitsuzane before. He didn't have a chance to form the relationship he had with people like Columbus or Moriarty prior to their betrayal… no, this was one case where he could go all out. He looked down, towards the driver that was still in his hands, carefully thinking his options over.

_No… I'll decide this with my own strength!_

"Mash, get ready to take on Mitsuzane with me and the rest of the Armored Riders. Okita, Tomoe, Musashi… take care of Nobunaga."

The Armored Riders, slowly recovering, looked to each other, wondering where this leader that reminded them so much of their missing comrade had come from. They all knew, instinctively, that Ritsuka was the type of person they should follow should they want to win against this threat. Together, they stood up, preparing their weapons to take on Mitsuzane with their new allies. However, the entire time, Ritsuka stood, eyes locked with the man he was about to face.

_Heh… I'm not used to facing the Crypter this early. That's either a sign that this Lostbelt is going to be too easy… or damn near impossible._

Okita wound up being the one to make the first move, her anger getting the better of her. She charged in, sword following closely behind as she leapt up, trying to get the sun in Nobunaga's eyes to distract her. She spun as she came down, revolving at insane speeds to put more force behind her first strike. Her sword clanged against Nobunaga's waking the rest of the combatants up, all charging in behind her.

As instructed by the Chaldean mage, the Armored Riders surrounded Mitsuzane, encircling him as to cut him off from his servant. They, unfortunately, decided to take the one at a time approach, allowing Mitsuzane to easily brush them aside as they came in. His skills were wildly beyond any of the other Armored Riders, save potentially Taketora at his best, but with his injuries, Taketora was nowhere near his strongest.

Coming up from behind him, Zack attempted to surprise the Crypter, but without even turning around, Mitsuzane could tell he was there, thrusting his spear backwards into Zack's driver. It pierced straight through it, stabbing Zack in the stomach. Mitsuzane held him there for a moment before throwing him off to the side. Zack's transformation wore off as he hit the ground, rolling a few times before falling unconscious. Jonouchi called out to his fallen comrade, running over to him and picking him up. He quickly got out of Mitsuzane's range, taking Zack to be treated back at the base.

"Two down… five to go…" Mitsuzane wiped the blood off of his spear, showing a complete lack of sympathy.

This threw the other Armored Riders into a near frenzied state, all wanting revenge for Zack, and all of their other fallen comrades who Mitsuzane and the other Overlords had gotten before this battle.

"Why you…!" Ryoma, usually a calm, collected man, ran up with his Sonic Arrow, attempting to get around Mitsuzane's fierce spear defense. This showed little promise though, with Mitsuzane simply blocking Ryoma's blow with his bare arm. Behind him, Oren had come up, attempting a sneak attack, but similarly failed just due to not being able to penetrate through his armor. Mitsuzane brought his leg up, kicking Ryoma back. This freed up his arm, allowing him to press down the blade on his driver once more.

A reddish-green energy surrounded his spear, as he charged up a special attack to take down his two attackers.

"Shit, Mash, get in front of Ryoma!" Ritsuka said as he and Taketora rushed around back to defend Oren.

Mash was luckily in time, but Ritsuka and Taketora did not have such luck, the wave of energy that Mitsuzane had charged up hitting him right in the gut. Like Zack, he hit the ground, transformation wearing off immediately.

Ryoma, shaken up, attempted to stand up but couldn't get his legs to work for long enough to do so.

"Mash, keep him occupied!"

After getting an affirmative response from the demi-servant, Ritsuka helped Taketora take Oren over to Ryoma, helping both of them get off the battlefield.

"Tch… you keep dropping like flies. You're making this too easy!" Mitsuzane went wild, bringing his spear down repeatedly onto Mash's shield. Sparks flew, and Mash was slowly getting pushed back. Unlike when she had Galahad helping her, this shield from the Orteanus armor wasn't unbreakable. It wasn't dependent on her will to protect her Senpai.

Ritsuka ran back over, Taketora following close behind. He ran up to Mash, reinforcing her with more mana.

"Mash! By my command seal, I order you! Take down the Crypter, Mitsuzane Kureshima!"

"Yes, Senpai!" Mash's body glowed, her strength being increased tenfold thanks to the power of the command seal. She began to push back against Mitsuzane, parrying him with her shield and forcing him to stagger backwards.

"Taketora, let's do this!" Ritsuka stood next to Taketora, preparing to take on Mitsuzane for hopefully the one and only time while in the Lostbelt.

Over with the Chaldean servants, they were almost on par with Nobunaga's strength. Keyword being "almost". Tomoe sat on the backlines, blood coming steadily from her leg. Okita was holding Nobunaga off while Musashi attempted to help stop Tomoe's bleeding. They were clearly outmatched here, and if something didn't change quickly they wouldn't last much longer.

"I didn't want to have to use this here, but I'll show you the full power of the Niten Ichi-ryu style, Nobunaga!" Musashi, having finished with helping Tomoe, drew forth her two swords again.

"Oh?" A smile crept onto Nobunaga's face, as she parried Okita away so that she could focus on the new challenger.

"Why you…" Okita, angered by being ignored, ran back up, only to be blown back by another of Nobunaga's blows. She went flying into some rubble behind her, nearly knocked out.

"Well then, let's see what you have, Musashi!" Nobunaga and Musashi both dashed at each other, clanging swords as Mitsuzane fought against Ritsuka, Mash and Taketora only a few meters away. Despite being so close, it was like they were in completely different worlds.

Meanwhile, in what could legitimately be considered a completely different world…

Two figures clashed, sending shockwaves throughout the contained space. Waves that, if they were sent throughout Earth, would tear the planet apart in a few short minutes. This was the clash of two divine level servants, both hailing from the Lostbelt of Zawame City. But they were not in the city itself, rather a place juxtaposed to it. The place where the Armored Riders gained their tremendous power… yes, these two figures fought in the forest of Helheim. And they would both be crossing paths with the Chaldeans, very soon.

**A/N:** So this was a bit of a longer chapter (roughly 1k words longer than my usual chapters). I decided to try something a bit different with my writing style this time, so I hope it came across well. Apologies for how long this took, but with COVID-19, I've not been moving very fast in any capacity (no, I don't have the virus, thankfully. I just mean that I have little motivation to do much). As per usual, please leave feedback and suggestions in the comments, I love seeing some interaction, as it really helps me with knowing how you guys like this and where I should be going with it.


	4. Yggdrasil, Helheim, and an Investigation

The battle between the Crypter's servant and the Chaldean servants raged with an intensity felt never before by the Armored Riders. This level of combat was something that could truly only be replicated by heroic spirits who fought so long ago, and had the backing of the Throne of Heroes behind them.

"Get ready, Nobunaga!" Musashi clashed swords with the opposing servant, sparks flying in every direction. Despite having two swords compared to Nobunaga's one, Musashi wasn't fast enough to break through her defenses, although Nobunaga wasn't having much luck getting through Musashi's either. Musashi ducked down below Nobu's sword, taking a quick slash at her leg. Although it barely grazed Nobunaga, the force behind it was enough to knock her off balance, which Musashi used as an opportunity to go in for the kill.

However, from behind her, Musashi heard a click.

Instinctively, she dodged out of the way, but the guns behind her followed her trail, blasting her right in the side. Musashi fell to the ground, swords laying beside her. Nobunaga got back up, wiping the dust off of herself.

"Tch… what a feeble attempt. If you are going to come after my life, do so with full knowledge that you will die!"

The Demon King surrounded herself with guns, preparing for Okita to return to the battlefield. Okita had just barely recovered enough to get herself back in the fight, determined to end it quickly. The wind around her began to pick up, signifying the start of her most powerful attack. Her Noble Phantasm. Nobunaga quickly picked up on this, beginning her counter attack quickly. After all, even a servant as strong as Nobunaga couldn't tank an Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm like Okita's.

"First step, silence… Second step, infinite suffering… Third step, a sword absolute!"

"Burn the gods and Buddha of the three realms to ashes…"

"**Mumyou, Sandanzuki!" "****『****The Hajun Reborn****・****Demon King of the Three Thousand Great Thousand Heavens****』****!"**

The other two servants couldn't even see what had happened, with Okita disappearing into a cloud of dust that Nobunaga's Noble Phantasm created, bombarding the ground. The wind that had picked up around Okita became visible for the briefest of moments, showing the path that the swordswoman took as she performed her most powerful attack - straight through the dust to Nobunaga.

Okita, having pierced through the dust, stood with her back facing her opponent. A grimace fell across Nobunaga's face as she fell down on one knee, her weapons vanishing around her.

"Okita!" Tomoe began to run over to her companion. "You did it!"

A shadow fell over Okita's eyes, as she began to fall to the ground as well. She caught herself with her sword, falling back to the same level as her rival. However, across her face spread a grin, knowing that she was able to protect her Master at the very least, as well as the others around her.

"Tch… don't think this is the end-" Nobunaga ironically began to cough up blood mid sentence. "This isn't… enough to kill someone like me!"

Nobunaga began to vanish back into her spirit form, retreating to where she couldn't be harmed further. Okita followed closely behind, vanishing back into her spirit form.

_Shit, Okita's down… we need to take this guy down quickly!  
_Ritsuka commanded his group to push back against Mitsuzane, but his power over the fruits of Helheim kept them back. Mitsuzane clearly had the upper hand in this battle, and it was taking everything within the Rider's powers to keep him from blowing them all away. Musashi and Tomoe rushed over to join in the fight, drawing their blades and slicing away at the vines coming from every direction.

The vines began to overwhelm the group, with Elementary Inves being summoned in by Mitsuzane as he continued his assault. Takatora, seeing no other option, pulled out one last Lockseed, one very familiar to the other Riders.

**KACHIDOKI**

Mitsuzane stopped for a brief second, recognizing the power that Takatora's Lockseed held.

**SOIYA!**

**KACHIDOKI ARMS!**

**IZA SHUTSUJIN! EI! EI! OH!**

The Kachidoki Armor fell onto Armored Rider Zangetsu, leveling him up into his most powerful state.

The battle between brothers began, as even Musashi and Tomoe began to fall back to Ritsuka in recognition of this battle of honor. Their blades clashed first, creating sparks and a shockwave powerful enough to even be felt by the servants. Mitsuzane went for a clean sweep, taking out Takatora's legs from under him. He tried to bring his blade down on him but Takatora parried, knocking him back and then backflipping to create distance. They circled each other for a brief second, before Mitsuzane took the offensive once again. He dashed forward, bringing his halberd around and swinging at Takatora, who blocked with the Hinawadaidai DJ-juu.

"Why are you doing this Mitsuzane?!" Takatora screamed through his mask, trying to reach what was once his brother.

"You would never understand, brother! You could never… you don't understand what's happening!" Mitsuzane pushed Takatora back, forcing him to his knees. Using Redyue's Halberd, he disarms Takatora. "This… whole situation. This whole damn time! I've been alone! Every single one of you abandoned me when I needed you! And with Kouta gone… I made a deal, you see? This Lockseed… it damn near killed me. I overused the powers of the Overlords too much and it backfired. And then… this lady… as I was on the brink of death, she came to me. She told me that she would give me limitless power! The things that she showed me were incredible… and this servant. Oda Nobunaga, she is just as strong as any of the Overlords!"

Mitsuzane began maniacally laughing. Takatora, seeing an opportunity, stood up and dashed towards Mitsuzane blade first. He was stopped when Mitsuzane countered though, a wave of energy surrounding him and knocking Takatora back.

"All of Zawame City is mine for the taking now! I will take this Lostbelt and beat all the others! I will come out on top!"

Ritsuka's eyes widened at this, realizing what Mitsuzane knew, or rather didn't know.

"Mitsuzane!" Ritsuka called out, "You don't know anything about the other Lostbelts, do you?!"

"What is there to know, I will destroy them all eventually anyways! No one can stop us!"

Ritsuka smirked. "Mitsuzane… there are only 3 Lostbelts left now!"

Mitsuzane stopped laughing, trying to process what Ritsuka said.

"What do you mean 3?! This is one of 8 Lostbelts, you can't seriously be telling me that 5 of them were destroyed already!"

"Not only did we take them down, but we've taken down enemies far stronger than you before. We've faced down the Gods of Olympus and won! We won't back down from someone like you… someone so out of their mind, you'll destroy this Lostbelt on your own eventually."

"Gods of… arrrggh! It doesn't matter! I'm stronger than any puny god! I have the power of all the Overlords on my side! The power of Helheim is mine to control!"

Mitsuzane flinched, falling to his knees. Takatora instantly turned around, regrouping with the Chaldeans.

"It's his armor, it's backfiring on him again. I thank you for stalling him long enough, but we must retreat now before he ends this battle!"

"Hello? Ritsuka?"

Holmes voiced echoed through Ritsuka's comm unit. The Shadow Border had been out of contact since they left earlier that day, which meant that whatever they needed to talk to them about had to be important. The Chaldeans had helped take the injured Riders back to their base, where the other members of the Beat Rider groups helped to treat them all.

"Holmes, what's up?" Ritsuka turned his attention back to the Shadow Border.

"We wanted to update you on something that we've been tracking since a bit after you left the Shadow Border."

"And what's that?"

"A high energy reading has been appearing on our sensor, a couple minutes ago we were finally able to pinpoint its location. The reason why it took so long is well… it appears as though it's coming from a neighboring dimension, or at least a world connected to this one. It's quite odd, as it seems as though the signal is right on top of this Lostbelt, and yet it's not."

"Could it have something to do with those cracks that the uh… Inves (?) were falling through?"

"It's possible, and it seems to be the most likely scenario. This is an extremely high energy source though, and it appears to be rapidly fading in and out, almost as if it's a battle raging in this other dimension. But this energy reading… if it's big enough to be reading this high from a different dimension, this must be some cataclysmic battle going on. I'd like for you to try to gain access to this place and investigate and try to figure out what's going on."

"Alright, I'll ask the locals if they know anything. Their powers seem to be linked to this, so they might be able to get us there."

Ritsuka went back to the room where the injured Riders were being treated to try and talk to Takatora. Noticing the Chaldean coming toward him, Takatora sat up in his bed.

"Ritsuka, what's going on?"

"Hey Takatora, I was just in contact with our base and they wanted me to investigate something that they found."

"Investigate?"

"Yeah, they said something about an energy reading from a neighboring dimension… I think it might have something to do with that place the Inves are coming from. I was hoping you could help us get to that place… after all, it seems like your powers are connected to it in some way."  
"Well you're certainly right about that. Our powers are directly derived from the Forest of Helheim, and so are the Inves. You happened to come to the right person… myself and Ryoma worked with links to the forest during our time with the Yggdrasil organization."

Takatora paused, pulling out his Lockseed. He examined it for a brief second before continuing.

"With that said… we've lost our connection to the Forest. Outside of summoning our armor, we can no longer access the Forest through the Lockseeds, almost as if there's some power trying to keep us out."

"So what you're saying is there's no way to get us to the Forest of Helheim?"

"Not quite. There is one last option we have if you need to get there… but it won't be easy to get to."

Ritsuka smirked at this. "We've done the impossible before, so we'll just do it again!"

"Hmph," Takatora chuckled at Ritsuka's bravado, "I like your spunk, kid. Alright then, there's no guarantee that this will still work, but we used to have a link to Helheim at the Yggdrasil Tower, one that functions separately from the Lockseeds. There's a slim chance that there may still be a way to activate it if enough power was forced through it… but I can't guarantee anything. I honestly don't even know if the tree is still there… it's possible that Mitchy tore it down to attempt to lock us out of gaining more power."

"Well, we have the greatest scientist in the world, Leonardo Da Vinci, on our team!" Ritsuka turned to Da Vinci, who was on the other side of the room helping to treat some of the other Riders. "I'm sure she'll be able to help us get this portal up and running, no matter how busted up things are there."

"Da Vinci, eh? Well, it's not every day you get to work with a scientist who supposedly died hundreds of years ago… This would also give us a chance to pull whatever is left from the labs at the Yggdrasil labs, and gather more Lockseeds."

"Mash! Da Vinci! Tomoe! Musashi! We're headed out!"

Takatora, being supported by Mash as he was still recovering, took the Chaldeans to the site of the former Yggdrasil Tower - however as the Chaldeans had figured out shortly after arriving in the Lostbelt, the tower had been overtaken, used as a base for the Fantasy Tree.

"Takatora, are you sure that we'll still be able to access the tower with it in this shape?" Mash asked inquisitively.

"Don't worry, all of the stuff we need is beneath the surface."

Takatora led them to the entrance of a stairwell, which led to a service path to the bottom of the Yggdrasil Tower. They descended into the darkness, almost feeling their way through the dimly lit path. When they reached the end of the path, Takatora felt around, pressing into a hidden button on one of the walls. It opened up yet another stairwell back up to the main tower, where the tree linked to Helheim was. The once grand room which was the culmination of years of research had been overrun by the fruits of the Forest. The tree however, still stood tall.

"Wow…" Da Vinci ran her hands along some of the equipment around the room. "Some of this tech is incredible! And all of this was used to help bridge the gap between here and Helheim?"  
"Yeah, but as I feared, it doesn't look like it's in usable shape with all of these vines around… the system itself looks like it was just about trashed too. I'm not sure if we can use this after all…"

"Oh nonsense! You have some of the strongest warriors here who can take care of all these vines in no time - and you have me to take care of these systems! If you give me a little bit of help, I can get this back up and running in no time!"

They all got to work, with the warriors Musashi and Tomoe tearing around the facility taking down the vines while Takatora and Da Vinci helped get the facility systems back up and running. Ritsuka and Mash could only watch in wonder as they all worked so efficiently, both of them staying as far back as possible to try and not get in the way at all.

It took about 5 minutes for the vines to be completely cleared, but Da Vinci and Takatora were still hard at work.

"Ahh! These systems are way too complicated! Who set these up?" Da Vinci exclaimed in frustration.

"That would be Ryoma… he's too smart for his own good."

"Hmph, smart my ass, any reasonable genius wouldn't have such complex systems. Aaaand that… should… do it!" Da Vinci stood back up, having finally connected the last wires. "Systems should be back up and running at minimum capacity."  
"Minimum?" Ritsuka asked.

"Yeah, we don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves by making a spectacle out of this. It'll be big enough for you and Mash to go through, with Tomoe and Musashi being able to follow along in spirit form. Takatora and I will stay here to help you get back in case something goes wrong on the other side." Da Vinci strolled over to a big switch, flipping it on. The power in the room flared up, lights turning on and a crack opening up in front of the massive tree. "Well? Get going, you four!"

Ritsuka nodded confidently, grabbing Mash's hand and running through the crack. Tomoe and Musashi disappeared, fading back into their spirit forms and following through the crack as well.

Back in the Forest of Helheim, the cataclysmic battle raged on, creating a major earthquake that shook everything within a 100 meter radius.

"You know we can't keep this up forever… you should give up now, and I'll consider letting you go to whatever backwater planet you chose."

"I can't do that. I won't allow you to destroy Earth for your own gain. I will keep you here for as long as it is necessary… although I sense that time may be drawing close."

The two divine spirits clashed once more, shockwaves resonating throughout the Forest. The second figure was right, this battle would soon be over, for soon the Chaldeans will arrive. And when that happens, the entire Lostbelt will change.

**A/N:** Hey there again! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. Not much to say about this one other than we are reaching a major turning point in the story soon, where the Chaldeans will meet the source of this "cataclysmic battle". In all honestly I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to make this story, I'd like to make it fairly long but we shall see.


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